Much-awaited and controversial Bollywood film Padmaavat has crossed the INR 100 crore since its opening on Thursday, the 25th of January.
It is estimated that the movie earned Indian RS 114 crore at the local box office, with its highest earnings coming in on Sunday.
The film is directed by big shot Sanjay Leela Bhansali, starring Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor and Ranveer Singh in lead roles, as the film came under much controversy by extremist groups in India, claiming that the film portrays queen Padmavati in a false light. However, this has been denied by producers, and the film still opened last week despite all the trouble that hit it.
The film first came under the spotlight in January last year when members of the Rajput Karni Sena attacked the film’s director Sanjay Leela Bhansali and vandalised the set during its filming in Rajasthan.
Members of the group threatened to attack cinemas, including armed swords, on Thursday, while hundreds of women have claimed to perform mass self-immolation if screenings went ahead.
Hardliners also offered bounties of up to INR 50 million ($769,000) to anyone who came with the news of “beheading” lead actress Deepika Padukone or Bhansali.
Padmaavat, initially titled ‘Padmavati’, was to hit screens on December 1, 2017, but filmmakers had to push back the release date, and the movie was cleared for screening earlier this month, with a total of five changes.